Hot Tin Roof: The Cat Who Wore A Fedora

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Peasants of the Rock, Paper, Shotgun domain, I am infatuated. I have fallen deeply, irrevocably in love. Her charms are many: a name long and flowing, full of confusion and wonder. An original look that picks her out of any crowd. Vocabulary that’s reduced me to little more than a muttering wreck, in awe of verbage I could only pray to match. And a voice, dear reader, what a voice. Come, be quiet, and just listen to Hot Tin Roof.

I’m a sucker for style, often to the point of over substance, so maybe that’s not enough for everyone. I’ve had a play on a preview build too and while it’s rough around the edges, I’m loving the ideas. Transitioning between 2D planes in a 3D world is smooth as hell with a superbly timed and operated camera. Surprisingly, the heavy noir fits the blocky, eight-bit inspired graphics to a tee. I think this has something to do with the stylised nostalgia of both – much as we’d like to remember the early 20th century in such dark tones, the games of the 90s should be high-definition, low-poly art.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the writing’s strong. Real strong. Just the right mix of referential humour, original wit, serious talk and straight up jokes. Some lines are a little awkward and the dialogue system doesn’t flow as well as what it spouts, but there’s talent behind it. Main character Emma Jones oozes more personality than most media manages from their entire cast helped massively by that incredible voice.

The platforming and gun-based puzzles are interesting, but rough. If the Kickstarter succeeds, I hope a lot of time goes into it. They’re not bad, per se, but awkward and untested as you’d expect from a game with at least another $20,000 worth of development to go. As an idea, I’m all in. As a graphical and auditory experience, I’m screaming for more. But as of yet, as a game, there’s work to do. Help them out, eh?

That looks like “my kind of thing” – retro-style, fancy narration, a cat who’s not a villain – but oddly enough, i’m not sold. At least, not just yet. Maybe it’s the oddity of 2D gameplay in a completely 3D space, but honestly? I don’t know.